1. Field
An air conditioner is disclosed herein.
2. Background
An air conditioner is an apparatus that cools, warms, or purifies indoor air to provide a comfortable indoor environment for a user. The air conditioner may be classified as an electric heat pump (EHP) type, which uses electric power, and a gas heat pump (GHP) type, which uses a gas fuel, such as liquid petroleum gas (LPG) or liquefied natural gas (LNG), according to a power source for driving a compressor of an outdoor unit or device. In the GHP type, an engine is operated by burning the gas fuel, and thus, the compressor is driven.
In the EHP type air conditioner, the compressor may be easily controlled through control of a current. The compressor may be driven through the control of the current, even when external air has a low temperature, and thus, the compressor may be easily driven.
However, in the GHP type air conditioner, as the engine uses the gas fuel, such as LPG or LNG, to be driven, it is not possible to respond to a partial load. When the external air has a low temperature, such as in winter, for example, startability of the engine is low.
Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2005-0043089, which is hereby incorporated by reference, discloses a heat pump type air conditioner.